3 reasons to watch the 2. Bundesliga | OneFootball

As entertaining as second divisions are, few come close to providing as much excitement as the 2. Bundesliga. On Friday night, Schalke 04 host Hertha Berlin in the opening game of the 2025/26 campaign and with the return of competitive football within sight, here are 3 reasons you should be watching the 2. Bundesliga.

Incredible atmospheres and fan culture

Until 1. FC Köln and Hamburg were promoted at the end of last season, the 2. Bundesliga for several years boasted more former German champions than the top flight. Storied clubs steeped in tradition and backed by huge followings – not just across Germany but around the world – find themselves languishing below their standards of decades gone by. All this makes for some incredible atmospheres that must be seen to be believed. And when you factor in the cost of a matchday ticket and beer, not to mention the free transport to the game, then no country rivals Germany.

It’s impossible to predict

For much of last season, 10 clubs were firmly in the promotion race until the final weeks, with the eventual top nine clubs separated by just 10 points. Elversberg upset the apple cart by finishing third and making it to the relegation playoff, just one point behind HSV. The league is simply impossible to predict, anyone can beat anyone and remains fiercely tight throughout. With a host of sides missing out on Bundesliga promotion last season, and the additions of relegated VfL Bochum and Holstein Kiel, along with 3. Liga newcomers Dynamo Dresden and none other than DFB Pokal finalists Arminia Bielefeld, the upcoming campaign promises to be even more unpredictable than the last.

A league of sleeping giants and big names

FC Köln and HSV may have earned promotion back into the top flight – the latter after a seven-year absence – but there are still a number of sleeping giants in the 2. Bundesliga. 1. FC Nürnberg, a nine-time German champion, have found themselves languishing in the second division since 2019. 1. FC Kaiserslautern – who won the Bundesliga in 1998 – found themselves in the 3. Liga in 2022 but since returned and narrowly missed out on the promotion playoff. Schalke 04 and Hertha Berlin are two clubs steeped in history with exceptional fanbases, but find themselves stuck in the second division while Hannover will also be eager to return to the Bundesliga under Christian Titz. And when it comes to big names, there are few bigger than Miroslav Klose in German football, who coaches FC Nürnberg in what is his first professional coaching job.

GGFN | Harry Good